


A million miles

by suyari



Series: Every Hour has come to This... [2]
Category: Pacific Rim (Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Shifters, Alternate Universe - Urban Fantasy, Angst, Familiars, Family, M/M, Magic, Shifters, Soulbonds, Team Hot Dads, Twins, bondmates, chaleigh
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-13
Updated: 2017-07-13
Packaged: 2018-12-01 11:37:55
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,845
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11485611
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/suyari/pseuds/suyari
Summary: “Can I help you?”“Is this the Becket residence?”Chuck was proud of himself for taking the entire situation seriously enough that he managed to withhold the snort that was his instant reaction. “If it isn’t, I think we’re all lost."





	A million miles

**Author's Note:**

> I _**had**_ wanted to wait to post this as one large, complete fic. However, I have been struggling to write _anything_ this year, and I figured I might as well start airing out a few WIPs. Also, it's PacRim Day and I'd otherwise have nothing to share. 
> 
> So, here we are. 
> 
> Happy PacRim Day, everyone!!

“I’m telling you, Mako, there’s a hell of a lot more going on than either of them are saying.” 

Chuck shifted the phone, pinning it to his shoulder as he began to tie the the ends of meat together. Generally, he’d just have his sister on speaker and carry on a conversation as if she were in the room with him. It wasn’t entirely habit - though it _did_ have a great deal to do with personal comfort - and he had no secrets, not in the Becket home. Ever since he’d bonded with Raleigh, they’d shared a connection so deep and strong that often they relayed information to one another without conscious direction. They’d decided upon their bonding ceremony that if they were to share a life for all eternity, then there would be nothing at all between them, save for the air that circulated about their individual bodies - though they were one so often, it was of fairly little consequence really. As such, neither had allowed for barriers, purposely dismantling any that had been in place prior to the confirmation of their status as bondmates during the rededication of their entire selves to one another. Being so open with Raleigh just made holding back with his family all the more exhausting, and with Uncle Scott in residence as Yancy’s Familiar, there was no real reason Chuck could see in trying. Uncle Scott knew everything about him anyway. And Chuck wasn’t really one for self-censure to begin with - as anyone who knew him could readily attest. However, of late, it had become more and more pertinent to take the time to be cautious when addressing the thing no one was really allowed to acknowledge. Chuck was rapidly losing patience with the whole affair and would have likely picked a fight weeks ago if not for Raleigh’s quiet, persistent dissuasion. And where words failed, sex always managed to ensnare Chuck so completely he’d forget entirely. His bondmate could be a devious interloper. Chuck loved that quite a lot about him. 

“Well, the contract is coming to a close isn’t it?” Mako replied with her usual pinpoint accuracy. Even thousands of miles away, she had the sharpest eyes in the family. 

Chuck put down the kitchen scissors, bracing a hand to the countertop as the knowledge swept through him with sudden relevancy. His knees felt weak, there was a knot in his stomach, and he could feel a distinct light headedness on the periphery of his senses. A chair slid across the room to catch him as he sank, his bondmate working magic through him. It’d been odd at first, living so intimately with magic. As a shifter, Chuck’s entire being radiated magic with all the force of a life sustaining star, but other than the act of shifting, he had no real use for or control of it. Raleigh, on the other hand, was a creature whose entire being was based in magic. It flowed in, around and through him at all times and was a constant resource in need of replenishing. Which was where Chuck - and Uncle Scott, where Yancy was concerned - came in. 

After they’d bonded, it’d taken a while to get accustomed to being exposed to magic so completely. The closer they became, the more adjustments had to be made, as Raleigh’s inherently magical nature began to affect Chuck’s every waking moment - especially when he was not present. As Raleigh’s Familiar, Chuck was a magical anchor in addition to being a well, keeping his Magical balanced even as he gave him the power he required to perform more elaborate tasks. But as his _Bondmate_ Chuck was the equivalent of Magnetic North on the proverbial magical compass. There was practically nothing they could not do together, and as they were always aware of where the other was and what state they were in, it made caring for one another - even from afar - easy in a way that brought immeasurable comfort to them both. 

_Chuck?_

Chuck closed his eyes, setting the phone down on the countertop as he felt his bondmate pervade his entire being. It was a little like using all of his senses at once, and none at all. A line between the dreaming and waking world where they would forever be connected. One day - if there was any love for them in the universe, and they had all the luck in it as well - when they were tired of the world and were ready to move on, Raleigh would let go and it would draw Chuck through where they could be one eternally, at peace. For the moment though, it was the place where they existed together, and it was still new enough - even months later - that it never failed to instantly thrill and comfort Chuck all at once. 

_Chuck, what’s wrong?_

He inhaled deeply, rested both hands against his thighs and released the breath slowly, welcoming his bondmate into his spirit’s embrace. When they’d first done it, Raleigh had startled and literally fallen off the bed, prompting Chuck to ask him what was wrong - looking down from above, without offering him a hand up. Raleigh had explained - or tried to - as best he could how he could perceive both halves of Chuck separately when Chuck returned his touch. Chuck had never given it much thought, but he supposed there _was_ a difference between his two selves. Even though he was always in control, and did not in truth consider himself halved as such. He was who he was; a shifter. It wasn’t until Raleigh had reached for him through his returned touch that Chuck had first experienced the separation. Even now, he could feel his animal spirit curl up in Raleigh’s lap, as he himself wrapped about his bondmate’s back, enveloping him in himself. The happiness that radiated from his animal self was so strong, Chuck could feel the vibrations through his bondmate, almost as if they weren’t his own. He hadn’t ever known he could love so deeply - that such love even existed - but there it was, for them both to experience, as boundless and endless and unconditional as the magic which now flowed from Chuck into Raleigh like a river filling a basin. 

Their connection pulsed in the space between worlds where they truly existed now. Raleigh calming as he sussed out Chuck’s condition and found him unharmed. Chuck had once witnessed Stacker perform absolutely terrifying magical feats in protection of his family through his father and was not keen to experience it first hand with his own bondmate any time soon. 

_Why didn’t I realize sooner?!_ he asked, frustrated with himself. 

Raleigh sighed. _Chuck, we’ll figure it out. I promise._

_We got them into this, Ray. This is on us._

_I know, Charlie. I know._

Chuck sagged in the chair as their spirits pressed close, merging slightly. They could only fully connect when physically intimate, but it still felt wonderful regardless. His brow furrowed when the world tipped sideways. They were still new enough at connecting that another’s touch could disrupt them and for the briefest of moments, he could feel the wild beating of Yancy’s heart, taste the not at all odd combination of his and Uncle Scott’s heady connection. Their scent still hadn’t evened out, a bite of violets that lingered in Yancy and drove Uncle Scott absolutely crazy; the remnant of his first contract, a mark on the Magical that would never fade. It reminded Chuck every day of how grateful he was to have been Raleigh’s first. That his bondmate would never smell of another. Would forever and always only be his. 

_Yancy’s worried. We’re going to be coming home early._

Chuck didn’t even bother to argue, as he was not at all against his bondmate being returned to him sooner than promised. Every time Raleigh was out of his sight, he struggled to keep it together. Wanting nothing more than to track his every step to know at his core, he was and would remain safe. But where the Beckets had gone, shifters stood out like beacons, and neither had wanted to draw attention to them. Protective, their Beckets. So Chuck and Uncle Scott had stayed in the house with Jazmine where they were safest. Had promised to remain, even though they were all well aware neither Hansen would, if they felt even the _slightest_ disturbance in their Magical. As they’d been left behind however, Uncle Scott had retreated to his and Yancy’s bedroom and Chuck was busy trying to keep himself busy, catching up with Mako while he could. Jazmine was still in the house, but as they were each bound to her brothers, neither could much keep an eye on her beyond general senses. 

_Tell him we’re fine._

_Like he’s going to_ believe _me._

_He will if you draw me into you when you tell him._

_We’ve never done it from this far before._

_It’s okay, Ray. You’re not going to split me in half. Take him._

_Okay. Hold on._

He could feel Raleigh brace himself, and chuckled quietly. The moment his bondmate’s body opened to his spirit, Chuck’s animal half went bursting through in full abandonment of him. Bondmates could, in times of great need or necessity, ‘share’ a shifter’s animal spirit. It was not the kind of thing one did lightly and without reason, and so was taken for the statement it was. Without his animal half, Chuck was vulnerable, and he could feel his bondmate practically shoving the free moving half of his soul back into his body the moment after he’d delivered the news. Chuck didn’t mind the transfer, really. While dangerous, it was also _extremely_ intimate and every time his animal returned - because of course he’d been adamant that they practice every chance they had - he was vibrant and energized as if completely renewed. Regular trips into Raleigh’s body left Chuck with a sudden weight of manic energy in need of burning off with an intense, immediate need. 

_Did he believe you?_

_Of course he believed me. He also yelled at me for doing something so ‘incredibly stupid’._

Chuck could feel his bondmate smile, his own mirroring the action almost instantaneously. The widening gap between Yancy and Scott had been hell on everyone’s nerves. Chuck knew Raleigh would not even need to be convinced to do it again, if it was getting such a response out of his older brother. 

He shifted in his seat, standing after a moment with a wide, full bodied stretch. He needed to move. _Are you still coming home early?_ He tried not to sound too desperately needy, but he wasn’t at all certain he succeeded. 

Raleigh’s laugh vibrated in Chuck’s chest. _Of course we are._ Chuck had to brace himself against the counter again as he felt his bondmate press close on every level of their shared connection. _You need me. Right now._

Chuck swallowed. There was no denying that. His body _ached_ with a fervent desire to reconnect with his bondmate. Raleigh wouldn’t be getting home fast enough. 

His lashes brushed his cheeks in soft flutters at the impression of a kiss. Chuck’s head tipped back, neck exposed and chest arching into a phantom touch. _Raleigh,_ he whined. 

_Soon,_ Raleigh promised. 

Chuck’s entire being clung to him as he tried to draw away, to return to a full conscious presence in a completely separate physical space. 

_Chuck._

_Sorry…_

Raleigh didn’t appear to mind, his spirit brushing Chuck’s one last time in reassurance before the immediacy of his attention was returned to other matters. 

Chuck sighed and just barely recalled he oughtn’t run his hand through his hair. He’d need a shower before Raleigh came home. He could hear Mako still on the other end and lifted the phone to his ear, before finishing up his dinner preparations. 

Despite the fact that she’d done her best to be reassuring, Chuck was fairly certain they were both well aware how little comfort it was in the face of his family’s new, looming paradigm shift. He wasn’t certain if he’d be able to help in any way, but now that it had been brought to his attention, the last few weeks of decline within their household made only too much sense and he was absolutely determined to fix the divide, no matter the cost. 

He washed up and was ambling through the hall when the doorbell rang. Shifting directions - for he’d had a date with a shower - Chuck made his way to the front door. The Beckets were very dedicated to their patronage and the community held them in high esteem. Neither Raleigh nor Yancy would be happy if they found out that no one had looked into an inquiry while they were away. Even if Chuck thought their open door policy of allowing clientele access to them at all hours was detrimental. He respected them, and he was one of the house Familiars, which made it his job to see to any wanderers. 

He opened the door and both brows immediately rose at the pair of shifters on the doorstep. Objectively, they were incredibly attractive. Tall and dark and alike in every detail as far as he could tell upon first impression. Twin shifters were so rare that they were practically legendary. So, even though he had no idea who they were, they had his immediate respect and all of his attention. Though something about them niggled about his periphery, carrying a nearly equally immediate dislike for some unknown reason. He did his best to push it aside. Regardless of their form - which he couldn’t seem to grasp for the moment - their sameness made their well of power far superior to his, even though he came from an ancient line that had somehow survived the millenia. There was no telling if they were bound or contracted and Chuck was not about to get Raleigh tangled up in something that could get them both killed because he was offensive for the sake of offense. 

“Can I help you?” 

They seemed equally surprised to see him. There was something else, something they were quick to bury, but which Chuck had caught enough of a glimpse of to make a mental note. He couldn’t identify it, but as they straightened, so did he. 

“Is this the Becket residence?” one asked. 

Chuck was proud of himself for taking the entire situation seriously enough that he managed to withhold the snort that was his instant reaction. “If it isn’t, I think we’re all lost,” he replied with a not entirely unfriendly grin. 

There it was again. Chuck was fairly certain it was disappointment and something a lot like heartache. He’d seen the latter enough the last few weeks to become well accustomed to it.

“Is Yancy home?” the other asked, a little more determined than his brother. 

“No.” 

They looked to one another before looking at Chuck again. Their eyes roamed over him appraisingly, rankling every last nerve in his body. He felt a growl take up in his chest, but dutifully swallowed it down. 

“Can I help you?!” he bristled. 

“I don’t know,” replied the second. “ _Can_ you?” 

There was a note to his voice, something a lot like hope. Chuck gripped the door, repressing the urge to slam it in their faces. “Come on in,” he growled, releasing the door as they nodded and crossed the threshold. 

The house pulsed oddly and Chuck looked around himself, though they didn’t take note of it. All at once there was a thudding of feet and Jazmine whirled around the last step of the stairs as if magic couldn’t have gotten her down any quicker. She froze, eyes widening so, Chuck felt the urge to protect her as if she were his own. He’d barely shifted in her direction when she gasped and pressed both hands to her face, tears pooling. And with a sob, she flew across the distance and threw herself into the arms to Chuck’s left. 

Uncle Scott wasn’t far behind. Where his red fur would otherwise cause him to stand out, Chuck doubted any of the three in the hall would be paying much attention. And though it worked out in their favor, it still irritated Chuck that his Uncle - Familiar of the Becket clan head as well as one in his own right - was being so easily overlooked. 

“Jazmine,” he tried, voice heavy with an unvoiced rumble. 

“Shh,” she replied, flapping a hand at him. She drew back to look at the twin shifters, one hand clutching each high on the arm as if she were afraid they would vanish before her eyes should she not be in constant contact with them. “It’s just Bruce and Trevin.” She sniffed and gave them a watery smile. “They’re _family_.”

Chuck inhaled deeply, nostrils flaring. The pair across from Jazmine were full shifters and didn’t smell anything like blood. As far as Chuck was aware, all that was left of the once mighty Becket clan lived in the house and couldn’t shift once between them. But there _was_ something _familiar_ about them. They smelled rather strongly of the Beckets _themselves_ which made absolutely no sense. Scents only mixed across…

The rumble in his chest kicked up until it was in audible range. 

Both shifters looked to him, straightening, but otherwise unmoving. He noticed they made it a point to keep Jazmine between them. Chuck couldn’t be sure if they were being protective of her or allowing her to be protective of them. It was all too much. 

“Who’s he?” asked one twin. 

“We didn’t exactly get an introduction,” added the other. 

Jazmine looked over to Chuck and blinked at him a few times as if she’d completely forgotten he existed. She sniffed again and rubbed her nose against her wrist delicately. “This is Chuck,” she said. “Chuck Hansen.” 

Chuck took a lot of pleasure in the flash of realization that started in their eyes before spreading throughout the rest of their bodies. They relaxed in deference to his superior bloodline, but they didn’t seem to like it. Which was just too damn bad, because Chuck wanted answers and if they knew who he was, well then, he’d just use it to his advantage for once in his life. 

The twins swallowed visibly as one. 

“A Hansen Familiar?” one managed through a tight throat. 

Chuck raised his chin and crossed his arms. “A Becket _Bondmate_ ,” he corrected airily. 

They looked back at him as if he’d just slapped them. It was a long, tense few moments as they tried to compose themselves, blinking more and more rapidly and trying to clear their throats of whatever was choking them without making much noise. Their scent shifted so noticeably, Chuck wasn’t certain Jazmine with her half shifter blood _couldn’t_ smell it. She shifted, smiling up at them. “Chuck and Raleigh bonded six months ago in two weeks,” she announced. “It was a surprise for everyone.” 

The twins eyes dragged from Chuck to Jazmine. Scent sparking full of what Chuck could only at worst describe as lifting hope. 

“ _Raleigh_?!” one choked out. 

“Raleigh _bonded_?” rasped the other. 

Jazmine crossed her arms, rocking back in her stance with a cheeky grin. “Well, he’s a big boy now. We’ve all grown up, you know.” 

“You’re still short,” the second responded with a hint of a smile. He reached out to ruffle her hair, which Jazmine endured with a sort of gleefully feigned indignation. 

The first twin looked back at Chuck, looking him over in a new light. Chuck held his stance, unwilling to give any more. In his periphery, he could make out Uncle Scott shifting. As soon as he stood, the twins gazes zeroed in on him. 

Jazmine turned to see what everyone was looking at and broke into a brilliant smile. She’d taken an instant liking to Uncle Scott and only seemed to grow ever fonder of him as the weeks passed. Chuck had asked her once why and she’d simply responded with, “He makes Yancy happy. Yancy hasn’t been happy for a long time.” He couldn’t deny that the same had been true for his Uncle. He’d enjoyed those few weeks of absolute abandon where Yancy and Uncle Scott had been in such abundant harmony that it was a little like intruding on someone’s honeymoon, even though he and Raleigh were technically the ones supposed to be in the honeymoon stage. He gave Jazmine a lot of credit for living with so many lovestruck idiots for so long. He supposed she didn’t have much of a choice, but she’d also not bothered to leave or even look away. Sometimes simply dropping her chin to her palm and sighing in contentment. Raleigh had taken a lot of enjoyment in teasing her endlessly, and she and Chuck were so close in age it hadn’t been that much of a stretch for Chuck to join in and find the sibling banter comforting. Jazmine may be the youngest and least magically stable of the Beckets, but of the three of them she was the most open. There was a great deal of easy acceptance to Jazmine, and a distinct quality of family and socialness that was very shifter-like. While each Becket had aspects of individual differentiation where their shifter halves took precedence, there was yet a companionable, familial quality to their shifter selves that heavily echoed any true shifter clan. He couldn’t be sure if they had always been so, or if they were being or had been influenced through their exposure and relationships with full blooded shifters. He liked to think - poetic and fanciful as it seemed - that there was a definable imprinted quality and that if one looked hard enough for it, the Beckets inherent shifter natures sprang to vividly recognizable shifter traits. And while he could, he realized, be merely projecting an all too idealistic sense of shifter clanhood upon them all, he preferred his understandably biased take on their family overall. Because the Beckets shifter natures could _not_ be denied. Nor could they so easily be explained away as unuseful byproducts of a hybrid nature. He may not have met many half breeds, but he knew at his core the Beckets were unique in their own way. Chuck took great pride in being a member of their family. 

Closing the distance between Uncle Scott and the twins, Jazmine threw both arms about his middle and hugged exuberantly, completely at ease and entirely unperturbed with the fact that he was completely naked - and the only one so in the room. “This is-” 

“Scott,” the twins breathed in surprise. 

“You know each other?” Jazmine asked, equally surprised, head lifting free of Uncle Scott’s chest. 

“We used to,” Uncle Scott answered, dragging Chuck along into the growing pool of surprise. He smiled down at Jazmine. “A long time ago.” 

Jazmine snorted and shook her head. “Leave it to my brother…” When the twins turned to her in obvious query, she tipped her head indicating the shifter in her arms. “Scott is Yancy’s current Familiar.” Her chin rose, almost defiantly and Chuck didn’t like the tone of her voice one bit. Gesturing at the clearly newly stricken twins, she added, “Bruce and Trevin were Yancy’s first Familiars.” 

Chuck cursed to himself. Things had gotten a whole lot more complicated than they had any right to be. And with only two weeks left on the contract. 

FUCK. 

~*~

It wasn’t that Scott had held any allusions to being Yancy’s one and only. He’d known prior to their own contract being struck that Yancy had had several Familiars in the course of his young life. And recalled being quite impressed that at seventeen, his Magical had managed to balance a pair of shifters as true Familiars. He supposed if he’d really given it much thought he would have come to the conclusion much sooner and on his own, without the additional complication of being faced with his own Magical’s haunted past. Being able to balance a pair of shifters at any age took extreme discipline and sacrifice not to mention a distinct level of magical and interpersonal aptitude. It was not often that shifters agreed to share a Magical. It took a very specific relationship to endure the strains of cohabitating a Magical bond - even a contracted one. So it made perfect sense, in retrospect, that a young, barely of age Magical with everything to lose landing a contract with a pair of Familiars would require a very unique shifter relationship. 

Yancy hadn’t spoken much about any of his previous Familiars. Scott knew it was a distinct combination of what he felt was polite and proper etiquette and a specific reluctance to share that part of his past. He’d shared some aspects of it - he’d had to, to keep them functional - but Scott would never have guessed that his Yancy had managed something so extraordinary so young. He’d been proud then, now…

Scott patted Jazmine’s back, grateful for her allegiance, despite her obvious feelings for the twin shifters. “It’s been a while,” he conceded. In point of fact it had been over two decades. He and Herc had met the twins in their own youth, and had lost contact with them shortly after becoming friends. 

Bruce nodded first, Trevin joining in upon the second rock of his head. Trevin had always been the more daring and emotional of the pair. Whereas Bruce prefered to retain his air of control until he trusted someone enough to lower his guard and let them in. It had caused them some issues in the past, as Scott recalled. For Trevin loved far too easily and trusted implicitly, dragging Bruce into countless heartbreaks which he then had to heal for the both of them. Scott wondered how they’d managed with Yancy, who’d been younger and desperate to save his family; willing to do anything, sacrifice anything he had to in order to protect and provide for his vulnerable younger siblings. 

They’d probably all fallen hard and deep. Leaving Scott with the pieces of his Magical he’d spent so many months diligently coaxing back together into a whole. He sighed internally, concern over an already uncertain future growing in incompatible ways. If he’d had any hope of fixing this before, it was gone now. 

He jerked slightly as he felt Yancy’s approach. They weren’t bonded as Raleigh and Chuck were, but they’d merged with such regularity for most of their contract that they were not immune to one another’s presence. It had dwindled of late, with Scott’s hesitancy to allow himself to hope there might ever be more and Yancy’s own hurt feelings, but perhaps the heightened emotional states they were both currently inhabiting had lent them to lean upon one another more. He couldn’t communicate anything to his Magical, and as he felt Yancy’s steps quicken in response to Scott’s own complicated jumble of feelings, he wished that just this once, perhaps he could reach him. So Yancy would be prepared, would brace himself - Scott ached to protect him, even as he knew deep down that of all the things he could protect Yancy from, this was not one of them. No matter how frustrating an admission it was. 

The door swung open with a groan and an impressive show of controlled force. 

“Scott?!” Yancy called, concerned. 

He allowed himself one sharply painful moment of relief and loss, emotions spiraling in the span of a heartbeat that felt like a gaping wound in his chest. “No one’s hurt,” he replied. 

Chuck’s eyes had gone slightly vacant in that too telling display of perfect unity that meant he was communicating with Raleigh through their bond. They were both still young and new to it, despite the frequency with which they used the gift. One day they would be able to be conscious of multiple levels of environmental awareness without letting anything slip. But for now, they needed someone at their respective backs, so Scott had been encouraging them to practice every chance they could. 

Yancy stalked toward him, noting Jazmine’s arms about him and immediately folded him into his embrace, gently nudging his sister aside. He pressed his face into Scott’s hair and inhaled deeply, something he did when he needed reassurance. Scott wrapped both arms about him and tilted his head back. In the moment, no one else existed, and while it might seem spiteful, Yancy was _his_ Magical, and he needed comforting. Yancy’s mouth was on his before Scott had a chance to inhale, his own mouth opening under his Magical’s at the intensity behind it. Yancy didn’t hesitate, tongue delving, and caressing Scott’s own. He’d had a scare of some kind - it irritated Scott that he didn’t know what had caused it - and was letting Scott know without a shadow of a doubt that after a week of sleeping in the same bed and pining for one another, he was going to take him to bed and attend to him properly. 

If only he’d come home an hour ago.


End file.
